Deplorable

“Deplorable seeks to understand why some presidential campaigns represent the worst American politics has to offer. These elections, Stuckey argues, do not employ traditional discourse to distinguish between issues, parties, and candidates. Instead, deplorable elections tap into fears, arising primarily from race and inequality. Stuckey brilliantly identifies when and how discourse degenerates to despicable and campaigns deteriorate to deplorable. I highly recommend her exquisitely written, lush, and lyrical exploration of these critical elections.”

—Diane J. Heith, author of The Presidential Road Show: Public Leadership in an Era of Party Polarization and Media Fragmentation

“What just happened? And has anything like it happened before? For readers asking such questions after recent US presidential elections, Deplorable offers plenty to ponder. Distinguished presidential scholar Mary Stuckey tracks campaign discourse from Jefferson to Trump, highlighting election seasons that were especially unstable, economically arduous, and fraught with racial tension. This book will instruct, provoke, and challenge Americans who are ready to reckon with history and plan a better way forward.”

—Angela G. Ray, author of The Lyceum and Public Culture in the Nineteenth-Century United States

“Stuckey’s careful description and analysis of selected campaigns sustains a provocative narrative with significant import for our democracy. Her treatment of Donald Trump’s election campaigns is a must read.”

—Steven R. Goldzwig Congress and the Presidency

Mary E. Stuckey is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Communication at Penn State University. She is the author of eleven books, including Voting Deliberatively: FDR and the 1936 Presidential Campaign, also published by Penn State University Press.